My daughter was born at 31 weeks. This was obviously not planned, and my husband and I were in shock. Having four other little kids at home (1.5 hours from the hospital) made this all a lot more stressful and heartbreaking. One of our first days in the hospital, Nurse Rian was our daughter’s nurse. I feel like my husband and I immediately connected with Nurse Rian. She listened to all my ugly cries. She understood my desire to do as much for my baby as I could and let me. She was encouraging every step of the way. Nurse Rian was a professional nurse while being empathetic and not merely mechanical. When I’d ask the same questions day in and day out, she graciously answered. She always had a smile and made a really hard and scary time full of laughs too. She also would give my husband and me a lot of ideas for dinners out, seeing we are not from Spokane. When I learned we could have a primary, there was no question in my mind I wanted her for H’s nurse. Even on days when she wasn’t, due to staffing, she would go above and beyond to make sure I had everything I needed, and H was well taken care of. When we moved units, we were in a little pod that was dark and kind of depressing. When she asked how I liked it, I told her that it was gloomy, but everyone was sweet. She looked over and saw that the pod by the window was open because that baby had been discharged, without question, she moved us to that pod. Little acts of kindness were never overlooked. We spent 37 long days in the hospital, and we honestly can say, having Nurse Rian as our daughter’s nurse made all those hard and dark days brighter!